There are many principles to each form of communication, both verbal and nonverbal. It is somewhat dependant on the circumstances in which you are speaking. All principles are important, some more than others. I will concentrate on three that I consider important. One of the three principles that I consider to be paramount is Be Authentic, do not try to be or act like someone you are not. I learned this the hard way, when I was a cashier at a grocery store my register froze. I mean it completely stopped, after a long line ensued, and after repeated calls for help, I foolishly took matters into my own hands. I decided to in a word “reboot†the register, bad mistake. It completely lost all the days receipts in its memory up to and including the transaction that had stalled. Needless to say that was not the proper response to that situation. The next principle that I consider very important is; do not be afraid to get emotional. That being said in the healthcare profession it goes without saying that we do not want to get too emotional, but we do need to talk and inform and use the power of touch to comfort our patients. They need to know and to feel that we do care in a very real way.
We need to make sure that our patients can identify with us. This brings me to principle number three that I consider critical. We must be open, connected and be able to listen to our patients as well as our coworkers. In the healthcare field we are the front line of the emotional and physical wellbeing of our patients. We must be attentive to their every need, be it physical and or emotional. We will sometimes have to be their advocate, or even their best friend. And they must feel that we are being genuine and authentic when doing so. They must develop trust in us that we are doing all we can to help them. We have been living in a time of accelerated innovations of what some call e-health. This is the use of information and communications to improve health systems. The use of computers and cell phones, all mobile technologies can facilitate access for all to new diagnostic and treatment efforts.
How else would we be able to, for instance, locate donors in all fields, beginning with bone marrow, all the way to heart and lung transplants and everything in between? Even in the local family doctors office we can benefit from new technologies. In my doctor’s office, when making an appointment, when one may not be available, they can call you to come in when they are able to fit you in. That makes for having a waiting room that is not overly full of anxious sick people, becoming more and unhappy with the wait to see their doctor. Prescriptions can be phoned into pharmacies and by the time you arrive they are ready, even refills are now being handled this way. In fact most recurring prescription refills are done automatically. We have come a long way but I feel that this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg to what we will see in the future.